SNOW MAY BLUR JOBS PICTURE

01/03/2010 10:50

Certainly, they have gotten the attention of the reform-minded crowd. Robert S. McIntyre, director of the left-leaning advocacy group Citizens for Tax
Justice, apparently likes their proposal, saying it offers "a cheap shoesmuch simpler, fairer and economically
sounder tax code." Even conservative Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, calls it "a positive starting point."
The plan these two lawmakers have been working on for two years is far more fully formed than was the barroom notion that became the 1986 law. But while
Wyden sits on Finance, he isn't the chairman, and Gregg isn't evenwholesale shoes a member of the tax-writing
panel. Moreover, they can afford to make bold, bipartisan gestures at a time when most in Congress are frozen in place by polarization. Wyden is the most
popular politician in his state, and Gregg isn't seeking another term -- political facts that may limit their influence.
Still, although there isn't even a real tax bill out there to try to leverage, everyone knows Congress will have to make significant changes in the tax code
before the end of the year. If not, there will be a political and economic train wreck when the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts expire at midnight Dec. 31. President
Obama, too, has made a nod toward comprehensive overhaul. So the window is open.
The Wyden-Gregg bill isn't perfect. It doesn't touch many of the biggest, most shoeseconomically questionable
deductions and exclusions. And among its flaws is the fact that the sponsors have waved a magic wand to generate $230 billion in unspecified savings from
current giveaways to corporations. Absent that magic asterisk, the bill nike shoeswould increase the budget
deficit over the long run.
After all, reformers have to start somewhere. And Wyden and Gregg cheap nike shoesare no less likely in that role
than Packwood, Diefenderfer, Bradley, Kemp or Reagan. Maybe if they sat down with their fellow lawmakers over a few pitchers of beer and explained what they
are trying to accomplish, they might find success. But Wyden doesn't imbibe, and Gregg does so rarely, according to their aides, which rules out that sort of
convivial persuasion. BEST MONTH SINCE NOVEMBER
While all three indexes finished slightly lower for the week, the stock market capped its best month since November.
For the month of February, the Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) was up 2.6 percent, the S&P 500 (.SPX) was up 2.9 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index
(.IXIC) rose 4.2 percent.
Although February was sweet, the final week of the month went down inNike Air Jordan
Shoes the loss column. For the week, the Dow slid 0.8 percent, while the S&P 500 shed 0.4 percent and the Nasdaq slipped 0.3 percent. Lingering concerns
about Greece's fiscal deficit problems and its effects on the euro were among factors keeping investors on edge.
The S&P 500 has climbed as much as 70 percent from its lows in early March 2009, largely because of stronger-than-expected economic data and earnings, but it
has since retraced some of those gains.
Recent snow storms and other harsh winter air jordanweather may contribute to the
weaker February jobs picture and make the data even harder to forecast, analysts said.
But, they said, the numbers remain among the most important for the economic outlook.
"You can't describe the economy as in a recovery until you have job growth," said Charles Lieberman, chief investment officer of Advisors Capital Management,
LLC in Paramus, New Jersey.
For this Friday's jobs report, the consensus forecast, according to economists polled by Reuters, calls for a loss of 50,000 jobs in February, compared with
a decline of 20,000 in January. The U.S. unemployment rate is forecast to rise to 9.8 percent in February from 9.7 percent in January.
"Productivity has gone through the roof, and so have earnings, and that's likely to translate into hiring" at some point, Lieberman said.
More than 70 percent of S&P 500 companies have beaten earnings estimates so far for the fourth quarter, well above the 61 percent in a typical quarter,
according to Thomson Reuters, which began tracking data in 1994.
With 96 percent of S&P 500 fourth-quarter results already in, earnings are expected to increase 201.3 percent from a year ago, when the economic downturn
took a big toll on corporate results. Allen Iverson ShoesOther NBA Star ShoesDirk Nowitzki ShoesSteve Nash ShoesNike air force 1 HighNike air force 1 LowNike air force 1 Low 07